Stuck With Me: A Cad Bane Novel

Chapter 30

Warnings: cad is on the warpath, canon typical stuff, cad craaaaves violence,

Word count: 1.1k

 Cad is scared. He doesn't know where you are - he tried to find you back on Nal Koska, but there's no trace of you, no footprints, no sign of a scuffle. The only thing left is the neatly swept flagstones, which could have been a native sweeping leaves off their patio as much as it could be hired muscle erasing the struggles of the woman who had stared up at him with bright, glimmering eyes before she slipped away, the woman who had said I love you, Cad Bane with so much conviction that he had no choice but to believe it to be true. So, he goes to Coruscant. He goes to Coruscant, because if there's anyone who knows information on this, he can trust Tygrav to gossip.

'I didn't think you'd be back so soon,' Tygrav says as Cad sits down.
The hunter narrows his eyes. 'Why's that?'
He shrugs, then nods at Cad. 'Where's your missus?'
'Around,' he answers shortly, tapping his fingers on the table top.

Cad cocks his head, acutely aware of the silence. There's never silence when Tygrav is around, and that's the first thing that he notices. The second thing he notices is that there are no glasses on the table; normally Tygrav is always drinking, constantly asking for top ups and getting more talkative as the alcohol loosens his tongue. The third thing he notices are the droplets of sweat on Tygrav's brow. They cling to his skin like beads of crystal, suspended on his forehead until they become heavy enough to roll down his face, falling into his eyes and making him swipe the back of his hand across his brow. Bane knows Tygrav; he knows that he doesn't like to be without a drink, he knows he doesn't sweat unless he's nervous, so what is it about Cad's presence that makes him nervous? What is it about Cad's presence that means Tygrav must forgo a drink for the silence of soberness?

The Duros thinks back to the conversation he last had with Tygrav. Had he been nervous then, or is this caution he's displaying new? He racks his brain, tries to recall what had been said. Tygrav had done his usual chat, small talked with you... And then he had commented about your fight in the Arena. Cad remembers it now; the way you had tensed ever so slightly beside him at the Human's jiving words: 'I heard about your fight in the Garkata Fighting Arena. Apparently you're quite a beast in there. You shoulda finished off Lictor, though.'

Sharply, he glances up at the man opposite him, his lips pulling back in a sneer to show his teeth as he leans forward, glaring at Tygrav. 'Ya knew,' he growls. 'Ya knew about her fight on Nar Shaddaa.' He pulls out one of his LL-30s in his slender fingers, aiming it squarely at the Human's chest. 'What else do ya know?'
Tygrav raises his hands, palms facing up. 'Cad, you don't want to do this.'
He snarls. 'Ya only get to call me that when ya ain't withholding information.'

Cad Bane stands, pressing the barrel of his blaster into Tygrav's chest. He can smell the stink of fear in the air, almost taste it, and it disgusts him as much as the deception, sitting low and bitter in his stomach. He knows now this must be the Hutt's work, either the Kanji or another clan, jealous of the changeling that fought in the arena; no one else would be able to pay enough credits for his betrayal. Menacingly, his chest rattles, a hard, primal sound, a sound that embodies his anger and need to find you, to protect you.

Grabbing the front of Tygrav's shirt, he lifts him up out of his seat, bringing his face close to the other mans as Cad digs his blaster into the soft flesh of his neck. 'Tell me where she is,' he snarls, blood red eyes blazing. 'And maybe I'll give you a quick death.'

'J - Jabba,' he whimpers. 'J - Jabba wanted the ch - changeling to w - work for him, so he posed as Z - Ziro to get you to t - take the bounty and en - enter Hutt Space to d - draw attention away from Ta - Tatooine. He w - will force her to do what h - he wants, even if sh - she resists.'
'And what is it they want her to do?' The Duros demands.
'I - I don't know - '

Cad slams Tygrav against the booth, his grip tight around his neck, his blue fingers cutting into his flesh as his face turns red, and the Human claws at the hunter's hands, gaping, desperate for air. Rage so unforgiving that all he can think of is the cessation of the pitiful life before him, he snarls, tightening his grip, eyes burning like the core of an exploding star, vicious and deadly and uncaring but for this creature's demise.

A scaly hand lands on Bane's shoulder, yanking him off Tygrav and spinning him around to face a huge, manic smile full of needle sharp teeth. He growls, fists balling as his previous victim collapses into the booth, gasping at air and clutching his throat.

'Well, well, well,' she chuckles. 'What'sssss thissss? Dropped the little Human bitch already? I did warn her.'
'Syss, get out of my fuckin' face,' Cad growls.
'What, feeling a little ssssensitive after you losssst your little plaything ssssso ssssoon?'

Cad is torn. He wants to give into his anger, to relish the sting of his knuckles as they collide with Uta Syss' face, but all the same, he knows where you are, and he needs to get to Tatooine as fast as he can to get you out of there, out of Jabba's grasp. Fear shoots through him; he's seen first hand Jabba's notorious habit of keeping slave women, and the mere thought of you in the position of the Hutt's Twi'lek slaves sickens him to the very stomach. Stars, why does the whole universe seem to be against you? Surely you've gone through enough? He knows that he doesn't deserve to be happy, but what have you done but try to hold your own against the relentless race of fate?

Growling, he shoves past Syss, knocking her to the side as he storms towards the door. She catches herself on a nearby table, surprise washing over her features.

'Dank farrik, Bane,' she says. 'She's made you go all sssssssoft and weak.'

Cad ignores her words as he strides towards his ship. Maybe you have made him go soft, but he knows that however weak he was before, you've done nothing but strengthen him.